Soils of the Panoche Hills

Why We Love It

Most people probably don’t give much thought to soils, or know very much about the geography of soil types. But soil data is very important to those who work as engineers, hydrologists, farmers, foresters, and planners. We love how this map shows the power of transparent overlays. It brings that data into an organized landscape showing the way major soil types follow ridges, rivers, and valleys.

Why It Works

This maps works because it’s interesting and beautiful. Beyond the great use of transparency and vibrant colors, it contains gorgeous labeling. Case and spacing is used very deliberately to both denote and differentiate features. The text curves to mimic the shape of geographic features, giving a level of professional polish rarely seen in online maps. Labels sit above the other content, making for better legibility. Text boxes provide even more detailed information.

Important Steps

In ArcGIS Online, place your labels above other content using Esri’s World Reference Overlay, available here.

To get a basemap with no labels, skip the regular basemap pull-down list in the ArcGIS Online map viewer and search for "World Light Gray Base" in the Add > Search for Layers option. Click the name and select “use as a basemap.”